Sermon Recap for January 29

 

Morning: Blind Tradition: Matthew 15 (audio)

Blind Tradition: Matthew 15

Matthew 15:1–14

New Testament Ib: Matthew 14–28 They Do Not Wash Their Hands
Therefore this tradition of the elders is practically useless, for it does not benefit a person’s health.

Sometimes, preachers and teachers get things wrong....

Traditions, Laws, and Hearts

Traditions:

  Good for some things

  Bad for others

They make good  servants  but horrible  masters

Laws:

  1. Requirements of  God's People

  2. Requirements of  ALL People

  3. A mirror that shows us our need for  GRACE!

Hearts:

  1. Laws  push in , but hearts are  what we are

  2. Cleaning the outside  does nothing

  3. Replacing the  INSIDE matters

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:29 AM January 30, 2017.

Evening: John 3:16; Romans 6:23 (audio)

Risen and Ruling: Matthew 28

In Summary:

Getting to Matthew 28 marks the closing words of the Gospel of Matthew. Whatever else Matthew may have written, we do not have any of it. There may be other writings from the first century that should be attributed to him, but we do not find them in the canon of Scripture. He finishes with two major components: the Resurrection and the Great Commission.

As is often the case in the telling of history, crucial events can be told with a minimum of words. Much more is said of Mary’s interactions at the tomb of Jesus than is said of His resurrection. Matthew’s presentation of the Resurrection is not structured to persuade the reader of its occurrence. He writes to show the effect of its reality.

An important part of the Resurrection narrative are the witnesses. First, the news is given to the women who came to the tomb. In an era when women’s testimony was not worth much (based on what I’ve heard repeated in many New Testament classes), that Jesus entrusted this knowledge to women is worth noting. At the least, it should remind us that knowing the truth is the first qualification for someone to speak the truth. Mary Magdalene knew the truth and so had the ability to tell others. She should not have been expected to wait for someone else with a better pedigree.

Second, note that the religious leaders and guards, who should have been trustworthy, are not. They know the truth and hide the truth. The guards might be excusable, but the religious leadership has eyewitness testimony to the reality. And choose to ignore it. Trustworthiness only matters if you are willing to listen. The religious leaders did not want the truth, they wanted a story.

Then there is the Great Commission. Jesus gives the disciples a closing command to carry out, and it is one that has no ending point.

In Focus:

Taking the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20, into focus, let us consider three major points in focus here.

First, the opening line tells us that Jesus spoke of His authority. The King is issuing a command here, and the King’s words are binding. Further, He addresses His authority. It is His, and no one else’s.

Second, the next verse gives us the scope of His commission. The command requires effort, “Go,” and has “all nations” as its end point. A great deal of emphasis is laid on the idea of “nations” as “ethnic groups” these days, but it is worth noting that the disciples would have assumed that. They were all subject to the Roman Empire, but none of them considered themselves “Romans.” It would have followed that an earthly political unit was not the focus of these commands.

Third, the last verse gives the time frame for His work. He promises His presence “unto the end of the age.” That covers all the times that we might be concerned with, does it not? Further, since the time frame is not short, Jesus commands that all He taught be passed on. Not just a few snippets. It will take the fullness of His Words and His presence to carry His followers through to the end of the age.

This is the commission given by the Risen and Ruling King.

In Practice:

First, perhaps, we should get a right definition of “commission.” It’s not a percentage of a sale. It’s the charge for the King to accomplish something. A commission is different from a command in this way: a command is about specific behavior while a commission is about a goal. A command says not to run a red light. A commission says to travel to a location. Further, a command might say to go to the store and buy hamburgers. A commission says to prepare a feast.

There is latitude in a commission, provided it is accomplished within the confines of known commands and reflects the character of the commissioner. In this case, it must reflect the character of the Risen King. Being a commission does not make it optional, but instead, leaves it to us to determine the best way to accomplish it in light of the commands and character of the King. For example, telegraphs helped carry out the commission at one point but now are not much help. Sailing ships aided at one point where now, often, aircraft supply. Being commissioned to accomplish the task enables us to apply wisdom and knowledge. Of course, that requires that we acquire wisdom and knowledge.

Now, on to the rest: authority for the Great Commission reminds us that our orders come from our King. If our earthly rulers are impeding our work on the Great Commission, then we must cast off that authority. No President, Premier, or Potentate may stop us—they may force an adaptation of methodology. But that is not the same. We obey the Risen and Ruling King.

Second, the scope of the Great Commission reminds us that Jesus draws no geographic or ethnographic borders on His kingdom. We seem to draw them around our churches and our work to spread the Gospel, but the Risen and Ruling King rules over all. Let the borders we draw around our faith reflect His borders.

Finally, the time frame of the Great Commission reminds us that we will work until the King returns triumphantly. While the times may change around us, our commission does not change with the times. It may be “too late” for some cultures or “too early” for others, but the time frame is not set by sociologists or missiologists or pastors. It is set by the Risen and Ruling King who has promised His support to the end of the age. Because we ought to need it. There comes no point where we live without Him, and certainly no point where we can be effective without Him.

In Nerdiness: 

Well, the body went long but we still have to get nerdy together.

First, this is Matthew’s only canonical book. I have not seen any major suggestions of Matthew as the author of Hebrews, which surprises me. After all, Matthew uses a lot of Old Testament references. Hebrews uses a lot of Old Testament references. I know the writing style is different, but still, there seems a possibility. Somebody working on a New Testament Ph.D. should look into that.

Second, Matthew explains one of the earliest arguments against the Resurrection when he points out the guards being bribed into lying. It makes me suspect that at least one of those guards came to faith in Christ and told Matthew the truth.

Third, a fun challenge is harmonizing the accounts of what happened on Resurrection Day. Have fun charting that!

The King: Matthew 27

In Summary:

In truth, Matthew 27 deserves about a half-dozen thoughts to deal with. This chapter gives us Judas and his recognition of failure. From Matthew 27:1-4, some have inferred that Judas had hoped his betrayal of Jesus would turn out differently. That is an entirely different discussion than we’ll have here—the text does not supply any greater motive than financial. That turns out to not be enough, for Judas recognizes that he has a hand in condemning an innocent man for profit.

Yes, there’s a principle there about profiting off the death of the innocent. What exactly expanded your 401(k)?

Then we have the Roman trials of Jesus. The Jewish trials were held in the nighttime and are recorded in Matthew 26. It is worth noting that the Jewish leadership did not wake up the Romans with their demands but waited until an opportune moment to involve Pilate. Also worth noticing here is that Matthew does not record the Pilate shipping Jesus over to Herod and then Herod shipping Him back. That detail is only in Luke 23.

The chapter wraps with some of the details of the crucifixion of Jesus. The original readers of Matthew would have known the mechanics of this execution method—in the same way that those of us in recent American life need no added explanation of what “Give him the chair!” would mean for an execution. (This even though I think there are no remaining states using the electric chair as an execution method.)

While Jesus is on the Cross, we see that He is mocked and taunted. This was normal because the slow public execution was meant to also humiliate. He was mocked for what He had said. He was mocked for what He was not doing. Then darkness fell, the veil of the Temple is torn, and a centurion realizes that something very important just happened.

The chapter closes with the Son of God laid in a gifted tomb, soldiers keeping Him as locked up as they possibly could. (Can you imagine that orders package? “Lucius, go, make sure this Jesus guy doesn’t come back to life and get out of the tomb.” “Surely, you can’t be serious! If He comes back to life, you think we can get Him to stay in the tomb?” “The name is Surius, not Shirley. And I’m dead serious.”)

In Focus:

For a focal verse, take a look at Matthew 2:2. Really. The Magi arrive in Jerusalem some 30 years prior to Matthew 27 and ask about the King of the Jews. Then take a look at Matthew 27:11. Jesus only answers one question during His trial before Pilate.

One.

It was this: “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Look at Matthew 27:29. And Matthew 27:37. And Matthew 27:42.

Matthew’s recounting of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God comes to its fullness here. Jesus is the King. And this is how the world treated the King. One betrayed Him. One denied Him. Dozens fled Him, hundreds shouted, “Crucify!”

If Jesus were only a normal king, the story would end here. As with so many other stories, the next page would tell of who became the king next. But that’s not what happens because Jesus is no ordinary king. His Kingdom is not of this earth or restricted to it, but He is above all things. Including death.

In Practice:

Unfortunately, we must remind ourselves that, had we been in the crowd, we probably would have yelled “CRUCIFY!” with them. Or we might have betrayed the Lord Jesus instead of Judas. Perhaps we simply would have been like Pilate and washed our hands at getting involved.

Instead, let us take this as our commitment: the King will not have suffered for us in vain. We will follow the example of Simon of Cyrene and carry the cross. Not literally—that would be unnecessary. Instead, let us carry the message of the cross to the world. Let us be like Joseph of Arimathea and come out of the darkness and follow fully in public. Let us weep over the cost of our sin.

And let us tell the world that the One who was King then is still King today!

In Nerdiness: 

1. Simon of Cyrene is from Libya. It is most likely that he is African—though he could have been a Jewish settler. Either way, he’s either Middle Eastern or African. Remember that.

2. The splitting of the rocks in v. 51 tells us that the creation did not care for the Creator’s suffering.

3. V. 52-53 is a strange story. I don’t know quite what else to say about it. Strange.

4. V. 54 could be translated as “Truly, this was a son of the gods.” It all depends on whether or not the centurion is amazed but unchanged or becomes a follower of Christ.

5. I do not understand putting a seal on the grave. Why not a local animal instead of some aquatic critter? Did they have a beach ball for it to play with? Was it a harp seal?

Sermon Recap for January 22

Sunday morning’s passage was Matthew 13:1-9. Sunday night was business meeting. My kids weren’t there, but we had a motion to adjourn just the same :)

Good Soil! Matthew 13:1-9 (audio)

Good soil!

What is Jesus talking about?

The basic understanding of this parable:

The four types of  soil

Matthew 13:18-25

How do we make sure the seed falls on good soil?

What can we do?

We cannot make seeds grow.

We ABSOLUTELY DO NOT HYBRIDIZE THE SEED WITH OTHER NONSENSE TO MAKE IT GROW BETTER!

We move  rocks

The falsehoods that keep people from taking root in Christ

We clear  thorns

The cares of this world

The blatant sinfulness of those who call themselves Christians

We prepare  soil

Encouragement, nutrients

We spread  seed

God grants the  increase   in His time

And then we repeat, every season.

Next week’s passage:

Matthew 15:1-14

Treasure Hunters

Ever watched one of those “treasure hunter” shows on television? Where you watch as some nut chases after hidden clues and makes some dubious logical leaps in order to find a treasure that may not exist?

The one thing that makes the star not a “nut” is when he actually finds a treasure. Then, it pays off. Then it makes it all worthwhile. And everyone sits back and apologizes for doubting him and wants him to buy the next round.

It all hinges on the treasure. If it’s real and truly valuable, then it’s worth anything. If not, well, then you’re just another nut with a theory, a fake bird, and a series of murders for Sam Spade to solve. (Ok, so that’s fiction. But still…)

Matthew 13:44 speaks to treasure hunting. Actually, it speaks of treasure-finding. Jesus tells of a man who found a treasure in a field, kept it hidden, then acquired the field and held on tight. We praise the man, because the story is told in just a few sentences.

But what if we had known him? How crazy would we have thought that man?

“You’re buying the old Gunderson place? Are you nuts? That field won’t perform well. There’s no water!"

“You want to sell everything for that? We’re already on the cusp of financial ruin! No way!"

“Do you really think it’s worth it to do this? Take the money from selling half your stuff and go to Rio!"

“You want to spend the time to build and gather and find the lasting treasure? We can do it quicker. Besides, digging into that field will make it look odd to everyone else, and it will be different than the fields around it. Can’t do that. Just make it look the same and be the same."

What do we do with this?

First, realize that following Jesus is going to look like the middle of the treasure hunt to some people. We’re going to look like morons at times. It’s the way it is. We know the long-term treasure. Shortcuts will not be effective for what we need.

Second, realize that, just like with treasure hunts, there are people who would pirate the work. They want the benefits without the efforts. That’s a non-starter. But they will make life hard for you.

Finally, remember what we’re after. It’s not about the field or the short-term profit. We must not stop until we have reached the goal. Until we have attained the measure of the fullness of what God has called us to.

Don’t give up halfway in. This is no time to sell the shovels and give up, shrinking back.

January 19 2017

A few things I’ve noticed around the Internet this week:

First, if the poster had his facts right, the end of President Obama’s term tomorrow will mark only the second time in American history that we’ve had 3 successive two-term presidents. Clinton, Bush, Obama all served their full 8 years. The closest we’ve come to violence in the power transition has been here at the transition from President Obama to (will-be) President Trump.

But even that pales in comparison to the violence some nations see in any transition. And it sure beats civil wars and military coups every time something goes wrong.

Second, by this time tomorrow someone else will be responsible for executing the laws passed by the Congress. For the past few decades, we’ve kind of stunk at making sure the President did that and the Congress did their job. The back half of President Bush’s terms, much of President Obama’s terms, we’ve mainly let Congress skate and then fussed because the President either did too much of what we didn’t want or not enough of what we did. Without considering whether it was the President’s job to do it in the first place—much of was done outside what should have been the scope of the Executive Branch—but our Legislative Branch has been allowed to be dysfunctional for too long.

Third, it’s time for the great shift in American thought again. From 2002-2009, it was patriotic for the media and movie stars to question the government (in their eyes), while “mainstream America” (whatever the definition of that is) felt it wrong to do so. Then, from 2009-2017, it’s been reversed. Now it’s time to go back.

Or, maybe every last one of us who are supposed to be guaranteed, by the US Government under the law and through strength in the right ways, the free exercise of the inalienable right endowed by our Creator to stand up, use our brains, and engage in the process. That process starts by knowing your neighbor and realizing that every last one of us are in the same boat. True, I have a wildly different belief about God and right and wrong than many other people do. Guess what? I’ve worked with people whose belief systems were radically different. We argued but we worked.

It is entirely possible to live, work, and even be friends with people you have rank disagreements with. Start by having the assumption that the person next door needs food, water, oxygen, and to be treated like a human being. See where that gets you for starters. And then, we start using our brains again.

Start seeing through the rhetoric that perpetuates the cycle: this extreme view is held and propagated as the only alternative to that extreme view, and no middle ground is left. After all, the only reason someone holds the other view is they “hate” your view (and, by extension, you personally). And to defend you from the “haters,” your only option is to join the extreme on your side.

This gets exploited to the benefit of a few who profit, in money and power. Crack a history book and read it plainly. Hitler persuaded millions of that the Jews hated them, and got those millions to hate back. Stalin, Lenin, Robespierre. What empowered apartheid? Fear and hate.

Learn your neighbors. Love your neighbors. Some of them are like me: right-wing nuts who own guns, read the Bible, and actually believe it. Guess what? I don’t hate you as much as you think I do. And you probably don’t hate me as much as Todd Starnes wants me to think you do.

But as long as you and I never speak…well, we’ll never know, will we?

As long as we’re only people who wave at our neighbors (with a full hand or just a part of one) as we drive off to daily chaos, we’ll have voices from the TV or the Internet or some other distant source telling us who our neighbors are and helping us judge them.

The result?

The madness and anger you see going into tomorrow. And the relief without regard for the consequences of it. Guess what? Come noon, January 20, 2017, the Presidency of the United States switches to Donald J. Trump. Can the Republic survive him?

I guarantee you this: the Republic cannot survive the fractures in our streets between each of us. We have a system that should limit his power—should limit any government official’s power—but the power of that system is the people who are neighbors to one another.

People who are informed, thinking, and connected with the community around them.

Want to protest the installation of hate and tyranny tomorrow? Want to celebrate the end of eight years of hate and tyranny tomorrow?

Meet your neighbors. Share a meal with them. Make time for your family.

The strength of this nation is not its government. No nation lasts whose strength is in the politics.

The strength of this nation was, at one time, in its people. People like Alexander Hamilton or Elizabeth Adams, Abraham Lincoln or Harriet Beecher Stowe or Frederick Douglass or Sojourner Truth or Audie Murphy or Susan B. Anthony or Daisy Bates or….(the list starts to look like I’m just googling after that.)

You get the idea.

We the People. Let’s quit sitting on our hands and reach out to one another. We’ve almost waited too long. Let’s not wait any longer.

 

Or, if you’d rather, let’s be junior high kids and play “turn about’s fair play” for the next four years, and four years after that, and take pictures of the nation around us because it’ll help the archaeologists know what the ruins used to look like. Remember to print them out and seal them in plastic for posterity’s sake.

Rock Forever!: Joshua 4

In Summary:

Joshua 4 picks up the story right where Joshua 3 left off. The people are in the middle of the Jordan River, the priests are holding the Ark, and the waters have parted. There’s not much else to tell. The text recaps that the people crossed, including that the warriors for Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over with the rest of the nation, honoring their commitment.

There is also the statement that through this, God exalted Joshua just as He had done with Moses. He does this by echoing the miracle at the Red Sea from Exodus 15 with the parting of the Jordan River. Joshua is the legitimate successor of Moses as the leader of the people.

In Focus:

Rather than one verse or phrase from Joshua 4, focus your attention on event in this chapter of the gathering of rocks from within the Jordan River. As the bulk of the people are crossing, two things go on. First, twelve men are tasked (one from each tribe) with taking a stone from the river bed where the priests are standing with the Ark. These men take one stone each to the new campsite at Gilgal.

Meanwhile, 4:9 tells us that Joshua set up twelve stones where the priests are standing with the Ark. Depending on which commentary you read, some will suggest that these are the same twelve stones. Perhaps Joshua made a stack and then the twelve men picked up one from each stack. I side with the idea that twelve new stones were set up at the place of the priests. Also, Joshua is the man in charge. He may not have done it himself, and he still gets credit for doing it. We see this from time-to-time.

Worth noting on all twenty-four stones is this: there is no way we are talking about lightweight, small rocks. These are big, visible markers. Joshua is building a monument, after all. He’s building two—one of which will apparently be visible in the Jordan at times.

Why? God said to do it. While that’s a valid reason to do most anything, there’s often a reason God said to do things. In this case, the purpose is a memorial, a reminder of the river crossing. It’s to point out the place where God did the impossible on behalf of His people. How does that work? The people of Israel had been in the desert for 40 years, and they continued to live an agrarian life in a semi-arid climate. They would know the difference in river rocks and shore rocks. The evidence would be plain to their eyes.

In Practice:

First and foremost, we need to walk in obedience so that we have something to remember the Lord’s work by. Before we can make a memorial of how God used us as we walked in obedience, we have to walk in obedience. That is a place we often miss: God has already given us instructions, and we wait for something else before we follow.

Second, pay attention to what God does in your life and the lives around you. Where do see the miraculous in everyday life? Make a note of it. Here’s the place where journals and calendars come in handy—and so do those pesky phones. Take a picture, make a note. And then put some of this in a format you can remember it by and tell others.

As believers in Christ, we have two parts of the work of God to tell. The first is the work of God in salvation as Jesus came, died, and rose from the grave. We must never leave the Gospel unspoken. But the second part also matters: how is God working in your life and the lives of those around you? How has He shown His faithfulness so far?

Because by this, we learn even more how trustworthy God is for the days ahead.

In Nerdiness:

In fairness, it’s equally likely that we don’t have two stone piles, but one. It’s possible that the grammar should be translated that way.

Second, the stones are there “to this day” refers to the time of writing. Not this day, but that day.